The Animatrix

The Animatrix is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy produced by The Wachowskis, who wrote and directed the trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films, including four written by the Wachowskis. It details the backstory of the Matrix universe, and the original war between man and machines which led to the creation of the Matrix.

Zion Archive Computer: In the beginning, there was man. And for a time, it was good. But humanity's so-called civil societies soon fell victim to vanity and corruption. Then man made the machine in his own likeness. Thus did man become the architect of his own demise.

[Nonaka and Alexa talk of converting a intelligent machine to help them]Alexa: Will it...? Do you think it will convert?Nonaka: To convert is its choice to make.Alexa: Do you think we ought to reprogram it?Nonaka: No. We can't make slaves of them.Alexa: Because that would be simpler.Nonaka: We won't beat the machines by making them our slaves. Better to let them join us by choice.Alexa: Make them believe the right choice is the one we want.Nonaka: All right. Yes, machines are tools. They're made to be used. It's their nature.Alexa: To be slaves.Nonaka: That's why we show them a better world, why they convert.Alexa: But that world we show them isn't real.Nonaka: It doesn't matter.Alexa: I'm afraid they'll figure out that we've made up the thing in our heads.Nonaka: They can't tell the difference. To an artificial mind, all reality is virtual. How do they know that the real world isn't just another simulation? How do you?Alexa: I know I' m not dreaming now because I know what its like being in a dream.Nonaka: So dreaming lets you know that reality exists?Alexa: No. Just that my mind exists. I don't know about the rest.[Allusion to Cogito, ergo sum.]